


This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special

by SamiraScamander



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Letter Exchange
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16806670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamiraScamander/pseuds/SamiraScamander
Summary: Prompt: Character A and B both sign up for a Christmas Pen Pal project to exchange letters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing a decent story which has more than one chapter.  
> I'm trying to post something for this everyday but I'm not sure how life will get into my way of doing that.
> 
> But anyway, i hope you will enjoy it :D

As soon as she stepped a foot into the Café, Alex felt someone attacking her with a hug.

"Careful, sister. I'm happy to see you too.", she smiled while returning the hug.

It has been too long and she really needed to shorten the distance between their meetings.

"So how have you been? Good, I hope. Even though we should meet more often, i saw you on television more than i got to see you in person."

Alex scrunched her face.

"I know and I am very sorry about that but I promise it will change.

I really missed you. Other than that, well... my career's going great, I love shooting Marchlands. How are you doing?”, Alex asked while drinking a bit of her tea.

“I’ve been doing fine, got Daniel to go to the opera with me which is a really big sign of how much he loves me”, her sister said laughing.

“Well, that man really loves you if he’s ready to go to the opera with you. What did you do to make that happen?”

“Nothing. Now I’ve got to be his company for the next thing he wants. It’s a great deal. But speaking of something else, don’t think I didn’t notice how you changed the subject to my life.”

“I just don’t feel so good lately. I've got nobody to wait for me at home, nobody who I could share the little and big things and it makes me feel lonely that I don't have that special someone, to be perfectly honest."

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry that you feel this way but I’m sure you find the right person. Maybe even sooner than you think.”

Alex just arches an eyebrow.

Nicola was playing with her bracelet on her left wrist which usually meant that she was nervous or thinking intensively.

"What are you thinking about?", Alex asked.

Nicola sighed. Her sister just knew her too well.

She pulled an prospect out of her purse.

“It’s a prospect for a letter exchange project for Christmas. To meet new people and get in touch with people again. I thought it might be good for you. Before you say “no but thank you” like I know you will please consider it. Take this home with you and we’re meeting in a week again and you’ll tell me what you decided on. Just give it a thought okay? For me.”

“This is unfair, you’re using the guilt I’m feeling, not very nice, Nic.”, she says slightly annoyed.

“I have to get you to have a look at it, that’s all I’m asking for. I’m just using all the available aids I can use, don’t blame me.”

Alex rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I guess I will have a look at it. I hate you, you know?”

\---

After catching up with her sister, Alex made her way back home, feeling happier than she did in weeks. She settled herself on the couch with a good book and a glass of her favourite wine and looked at the prospect Nicola gave her.

  
_Come and join our Christmas Pen Pal exchange!_

_If you want to participate, you only have to do these things:_

  1. _Write us a short letter in which you tell us a bit about yourself so we can find you someone who could fit to you_
  2. _Write in that letter that you agree to the following:_



_we are not responsible for any words or actions of the people that are participating._

_Please don’t join if you won’t have time to write your partner back or if you’re ignoring them._

_These are the simple steps you have to follow and then you will get a letter of your partner soon!_

_We wish everyone a merry Christmas and a lot of fun with reading and writing the letters._

She had to admit that it didn’t sound too bad, like Nicola had actually chosen something that was worth spending time with.

This didn’t mean that she was going to do it, there were too many things to think about before jumping right into it.

She was always more a head than heart person so she needed to think about it a lot more.

So, she did what she was always did before making a life-changing choice.

Alex grabbed her headphones, her blanket and went outside to lay down on her cold balcony.

It was late November so it was accordingly cold outside but that didn’t matter to her now.

She snuggled up in her blanket, trying to get a bit warm on the ever-cold balcony floor while listening to her favourite classical song. Classic music, and especially piano music were there to be heard but also left space for her to think. The Song didn't occupy that space with lyrics of its own and Alex really liked that.

  
Alex liked to look up at the stars while thinking about life-changing choices because even though her life is going to change, the stars won’t.

She made a mental pro contra list in her head, the pro’s being getting to know a new person, a possible friend, and letters.

Letters were one thing she’d always loved. She didn’t mind whether it was writing or receiving, she liked both very much.

But she wasn't convinced yet.

She didn't want to give her address to a complete stranger, that’s just something she wouldn't do.

Yes, it would be amazing to write letters again and she had the time to do it, being nearly done with Marchlands, and yes, it would give her a nice feeling of being interesting and liked enough for someone to keep talking to her through letters but was it worth it?

What if they decided that she wasn't that interesting?

What if they thought she was too old for them?

What if they would crush her dreams of ever receiving that kind of love again?

_Oh, but what if they weren’t?_

After getting too cold even for her liking she went inside and straight to bed. She put her nightwear on, pulling the heating up and snuggled up in her blanket in bed while falling asleep.

Tomorrow was another day to make a decision, she tells herself despite knowing what she was going to do already.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify this: This is an AU story, at least in the beginning. They aren't on working on doctor who.
> 
> And I don't write things in a real timeline, I'll just use things as I like so that's why Marchlands and other things might appear in the same chapter despite them being years apart in reality.
> 
> Well, anyway I hope you all had a great first Advent and you're exited for this chapter because today we'll be meeting Cynthia!

The next morning Alex awoke being still tired. She really wasn't made for staying up late anymore but last night was worth it.

Today she had to learn her lines for   
Marchlands which was something she usually liked to do. This time though it would be harder because it was the last episode and she wasn't ready to let go of it yet. Alex noticed that she grew quite fond of that show because she was working with a lot of great actors and actresses and she really liked the storyline. She was beyond happy to play a part in it.

While making breakfast, she thought about everything she had to do this Thursday.

Thursdays were always stressful, filled with shopping, cleaning and learning lines.

After cleaning up and putting on her newly bought clothes from her shopping trip with her sister last week, she was ready to go outside. 

\---

At the supermarket she put her headphones on and started to check off things on her to buy list.

She just passed the groceries department and put a few things in her shopping cart as she felt someone touching her shoulder. 

She turned around, not knowing who it was yet but thinking that it better be a great person when they were disrupting her while she heard her favourite song, Killer Queen.

She turned around and saw her best friend Cynthia which she hasn't seen in years. 

Cynthia was a thirty-six years old black woman with blue hair and an obsession for rock music. She was a bit taller than Alex and was muscular without being too muscular for Alex's liking. 

Cynthia and her were friends in her youth, working at the same shop in summer a few years in a row helped them form a fruendship. Cynthia was the first friend she trusted with her problems with her boyfriend Jack and her first heartbreak.  
Cynthia was the one who helped her through everything, the only one she fully trusted, even now, the one she fell in love with a few months after breaking up with her boyfriend. 

They were just teenager when they fell in love but their love was so beautiful. It was the only thing keeping her going in some stages of her life.

It was giving and taking but never too much or too less.

It was dates on the beach after work, drinks on the balcony of their shared little flat and soft kisses after an especially exhausting day. 

It was buying supermarket flowers because they didn't have enough money for real flowers but still wanted to get the other one flowers to make them happy. 

It was being there for each other no matter what happened. That still hasn't changed. They didn't talk as much as they did at other points of their lives but they knew they could not speak for ten months and still come to the other with problems and they would help each other immediately.

As soon as Alex stopped her music and put her headphones away, she noticed the song playing in the supermarket. She would always recognize this song, the lyrics and melody being burned deep into her heart like a part of her body.

It was perfect by Ed Sheeran.

Their song.

The first minute she just started at her, like she couldn't believe she would meet her again now, and especially here at such a mundane, boring place before catching herself and hugging Cynthia passionately. 

She always thought that she would see Cynthia again but not in a supermarket. She had imaged a concert or something extraordinary and a bit dangerous. She wasn't the dangerous type but Cynthia was. She used to do all the crazy stuff while Alex used to stand there and hoped that her girlfriend wouldn't get hurt.

"Of course this song has to be playing here right now", Alex said grinning. 

"I heard it and saw you and I was just like wow, this is has to be fate. It's so good to see you again. I really missed you, Alex."

"I missed you too. We have to see each other more often but like I also told my sister before, my work has been doing a great job of occupying all of my time."

"I know, I saw the most of your stuff. You always wanted to be an actress and I am so happy to see that you did it, you achieved your dream and I am so proud of you.", Cynthia said while smiling genuinely at her friend.

Alex could feel her heart swell and herself blush which really showed how much Cynthia 's comment touched her. She wasn't a person who blushed easily and was always quite shy if someone still manage to make her feel that way. 

Cynthia just smirked and Alex knew exactly that she was very pleased with herself because she caused Alex to react this way.

They finished their shopping and said that they will meet tomorrow to properly catch up with each other. 

After saying goodbye to Cynthia she went home to put the food away. 

Meeting Cynthia was amazing and so unexpected.

It was certainly a great surprise, something that made me dull and stressful day so much more bearable. Especially if she got to see her again so soon.

After eating lunch and watching a show on the telly, she decided to put on some music and started cleaning the flat. 

\---

She really loved the show and that's why learning lines this time was so much harder. She didn't really agree with her character but she thought that Helen was still an interesting character and she liked to play her.

Tomorrow she would be on set for only two scenes and would film the rest of it on Saturday, a day she has been dreading since the first time she read the script. 

Alex ate dinner and went over her lines a last time before getting ready for bed.

With thoughts of the unusual great Thursday she had, Alex fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment and tell me what you think? 
> 
> Next chapter we will get to know more about Alex and Cynthia's history and Cynthia herself.
> 
> Also Alex makes a decision regarding the letter exchange project.
> 
> So come back tomorrow (or on the fourth because I'm not very punctual xD)


End file.
